It towers above the rest both in terms of story line (it has Shakespeare in its pedigree) and musical content; almost every song has become a standard in its own right.

Youonly have to hear the first bars of the score and you know immediately you’re on the West Side of New York and in dangerous territory.

Greasepainthave chosen to climb this musical Everest at the Town Hall all this week and my goodness! they tackle it with genuine emotion, great athleticism and absolute confidence in their collective ability, and when the company stands on its summit in the dramatic, sombre and emotional climax, it only has to listen to the audience’s shocked silence to know just well how it has succeeded.

From the outset the stage seemed small, blocked in and this is a deliberate ploy by stage manager Lynsey Bloomfield.

Theset is like a prison, hemmed in with wire fences, narrow alleyways, tenement buildings. There is no escape for the people who live here and the place becomes a battleground, a turf war, for the Jets and Sharks who have no hope, no future, which is why There’s a Place for Us is such a powerful song as it represents a dream they all touch but never reach.

Fromthe dark corners of this prison the cast, picked out by spotlights, spring to life and immerse themselves totally in their characters; you could feel the waves of frustration and aggression washing over the audience.

The choreography was direct and dramatic – exceptional as the Jets charted the fall and fall of the juvenile delinquent in Gee Officer Krupke. The tension builds: a piece of scruffy ground becomes a place of honour and young men are prepared to die because of it.

Withinthis framework of mindless violence is woven the ageless love story of Romeo and Juliet/Maria and Tony. Gareth Wynne and Sarah Bonser could so easily have stood in the shadows of past Tonys and Marias but they didn’t; they claimed the parts as their own, creating their own unique pair of ‘star cross’d lovers’.

Bothhave good voices and both are able to explore in a very tender way their relationship so that we would believe in the shock at the end.

Thepair were given terrific support by the rest of the cast. James Nelson and Josh Sly as the leaders of the Jets and Sharks exuded an air of unwritten authority and latest menace – a misplaced word or wrong action provoking immediate violence. And Morven Harrison’s Anita was both fiery and tragic, no more so then when she tries to warn Tony and is physically abused for her courage by the Jets, a powerful and disturbing scene.

Theorchestra added their musical weight to the developing drama; sometimes the music can become too intrusive, swamping the voices of the performers, but here it kept the right balance, allowing the emotion within the songs to work in harmony with the texture of the music.

Thecompany’s production has put a new coat of paint on an ageless story. It is done with enthusiasm and utter conviction: the setting, the direction, the singing and dancing could not be faulted.

Themean streets of New York live again and the audience grieves over the needless loss of young lives. West Side Story is on for the rest of this week – go and see it if you possibly can.